The Silenced Cry

The heavy eyelids slowly closed, pondering of a memory of another. It was close to the other (during their childhood) and yet currently distant in the passage of time. A hazy bubble formed in the subconscious. It was broken in many pieces. So, now numerous bubbles than one. These haze filled bubbles were like the parts of another's memories. It was as if looking through the back side of the mirror of another. One such bubble, portrayed their early life? It was quite terrifyingly dark. The haze dissipated slightly revealing a second woman older than another. It was the mother of another and child-like another also there, as she was!! Zooming in on the bubble through the subconscious' eyelids, the visit to her child life had begun.

It was deep into the time of the silence, also known as night in this world. Varied types of breathing could be heard. Some heavy, while some calm, and some frenetic even. The small girl lay towards one of the corners of the room. Her breathing seemed controlled calm. As if, pretending to be calm. Though in between her breathing, could be heard in faint whisper or was it an internal scream? Whatever the case, the girl's talkative eyes opened up. It was looking straight at the ceiling fan (dreaded by an aura she probably felt). Her state seemed weary. Slowly she went back to the sleep state, if she could actually go back to one?

Morning light seeped in to the room. The weary girl, felt like discarding the rejuvenated feeling coming from the light. Giving herself a hopeful thought seemed not fair considering how the world worked for her. As the world was not always kind, the sun scorched her being, on top of the right shoulder. Now, a tiny dark patch had formed, she thought, when looking at her right shoulder, or was it her imagination? She got up and silently walked around the house, like one lost without care. Regardless of considering herself lost, her body subconsciously went about her daily chores, though at a meandering pace.

Meandering along into the kitchen, the mother of the girl was busy with her chores. She was trying to make up the food for her children. Her look stern for she pondered about the ignorant nonchalance of the girl. The girl was truly lost, while pondering this a very small smile came across her face but it reverted back quickly. She needs to know when not be lost!!! If only she had the ability to communicate with her own girl.

Coming back from school just past midday, the girl ran up inside straight to her room, while being wary of the ceiling fan. Enough talk on mathematics, its art time! She took out her painting board along with her paints and sat down to get lost in the world she desired. Here, she could be right at home instead of the lonely real one they called home. She painted with the colors and they were dark, light, vivid, and pale. This world was mesmerizing and her eyes were lit up completely filled with the reflection. It was but for a short while though. The artwork was taken away while being, secretly admired, and out came a study book to work on. There was no communication except for this to convey, which the girl understood.The girl silently went about her task.

The girl pushed away at the air in between and this made the eyelids shift and shake out of the current bubble. Coming out from this bubble, the eyelids went into another. This time it seemed like a party was happening outside in the open air. The teenage girl roamed around greeting and be greeted by others. Though, searching for her mother. She found her in the corner of her eye and her mother was busy talking to someone. She drew nearer and nearer to where her mother stood and she started to speak. Though, only to be shushed away into silence by her mother.

The air though flowing freshly only felt stagnant instead to her. She found a quiet place to sit and scanned the area. Keeping her talkative eyes lit and open to people around. Internally, though she was crying. It was a silent scream to nobody in particular.. though someone did hear? It was an imaginative eyelid. It seemed out of focus and hard to look at but it was there. It seemed to have been there during different parts of her life. Specifically, when she felt lonely like she was now. It was horrifying to look at, just an eyelid!? But to the girl it felt normal.. it seemed like in this putrid air of suffocation it blended just right. It did not say anything, how could it.. it didn't have any speech anyway, thought the girl, but it stayed with her during such periods and that made her awfully comfortable.

It felt as if the eyelid could see right through her sparkling eyes. into the weeping angel inside. The angel that craved for her mother with fervor but was waiting for the right chance. It was the angel that knew anger which was bubbling up inside the girl slowly but steadily. The girl was crying internally but also was getting accustomed with this new prospect: anger.

Few days passed, the eyelid hovered about (it had gone away and back a few times and sometimes, stayed even in her dreams? Weird), the girl was feeling lost out of words to convey to her mother. Only silent air breaths came out when she tried to speak. Her mother was sitting relaxing from her tiresome chores-filled day. The girl wanted to sit down and talk but the words spoken instead were not legible but just screams (from the weeping angel) for a few minutes and then she walked away to her room. Filling herself with the already stagnant silence emanating from her room and her house.

The mother, unsure of what just happened, went back to her relaxation. She did not know how to communicate with this silence and then a sudden outburst. Maybe letting the girl to herself might be the right thing to do? This had always been her choice and till now, it hadn't seem to falter in her perception. She swayed at the air as she thought she swatted a fly, only to see a floating mind-piercing eyelid vanish into nothingness.

The eyelids attached back to the sockets of the ponderer. Drops of water flowing by it now. The grown up girl whose eyelids it were pondered about as to the why of such things as she came back to her current reality. Many times has her eyelids gone across her own bubbles of journey and come across this silence. It couldn't do much than to be there and be a mute eyelid. Probably horrifying the onlooker, if someone perceived it that is....

© Aditya Subramanian, 2020

The Lanky-Legged Presence

From deep within the darkest underground reaches of the world emerged a speck of dot. It was darker than the place it came from. Though it was strikingly visible enough in the bright open world whereupon it now happened to be. This dot sped to its unknown goal, at an insanely swift pace, with the intent to partake on the food it desired. Along the way, it fed as it needed, and it kept growing almost slowly but steadily. It was now large enough in size as a baby house gecko though still unable to be of a definable state. It started to form contrasts of darkness within itself. The difference is what was giving it a form. Still a spherical one, if it could be defined at all as one, only in shape, it cried in dismay.

As it passed through this enviable bright world the first time, it craved for a much more of a defined shape. While doing the second round of the world, it hit a wall? Wait a second, why was its motion stopped so abruptly. Especially when its been passing through any and all types of objects this whole time traversing the world. It seemed as if this wall was part of an enclosed space and it could take objects in but not let out (as of yet). This space was emanating a black hue which was surrounding the walls from the outside. It seemed like something which was known as a room in this world. It was made of walls in all six sides with few square openings of entry and the room's essence emanating itself from the other openings. The sentient speck understood that it had no way of exiting this space.

It looked for a place to settle down at. Found itself a good dark little home on one of the glades of the dangling fan, as it was called. It dangled down in this third dimensional space from its sixth side which in this world was known as a ceiling. Shutting itself down, it imagined of what it wants to be.

The small girl entered her room with her trusty backpack filled with things she loved into her bedroom, which was her house within the house. It had always been a place for her to ponder through her thoughts and be herself doing whatever she liked. She did not have to communicate with anyone once here.. just herself. She took out a story book she had been studying for the past few days, studying for quite sometime before shifting focus to trying to draw and then to write whatever she felt like at that moment of time.After having another good silent day, she started to doze off.

It restarted up, feeling cozier than it should. There seemed to be something within this constrained space that was feeding it the nourishment. It viewed around on its level above the "ceiling fan" as it now called its home. The energy seemed to be coming from below. Looking down it could perceive the small girl in rest mode. Though, not completely seemed at rest as the energy emanating and getting eaten away by it was causing the girl (being) to be restless.

More than an hour had already passed and now another couple more did, the small girl woke up suddenly, sweating profusely or so she thought. She was crying without her knowledge as she tried to recollect the nightmare that she had had within her sleep. She didn't understand, confused thoroughly as to why the thin and unusually long legs were what she remembered from the nightmare. She fidgeted around and tried to sleep... her gaze towards the ceiling and the fan's glades rotating about. Slowly dozing off, though still quite restless.

It brimmed with excitement, the onlooker of the event that transpired, at the sleeping girl. This fodder was excellent. It tasted the best. There was nothing close to this even in all the time frames that its been existing. It had now literally outgrown a smile on its slightly more spherical shape now.... the contrasts of darkness which gave the difference now updated to show its sinister smile more refined. This may be the best and quickest four years of its escape from this cage.

Almost a year has come to pass, and the sleepless nights continued day after day. The ceiling fan for some unknown reason freaked her out whenever she crossed by it. It felt like the darkness above the fan's glades were much more darker than it usually should be. The shadows seemed to form unusual shapes as well which she was unable to understand.

Aha! This year has been the best! A year has come to pass and its feeding frenzy has given it ample to form two horns above the spherical shape and an oval shape towards where its lower part of the body it perceived would be. It should try and thank its fodder when its a good time to, maybe next year? For now, it continued to eat to its fill from the sleepy mind of the small girl. The more her restlessness in her sleep, the better its meal.

Another scary nightmare, made the child scream and wake up, she had seen a sinister smile forming in the darkness and a slightly long leg like an adults this time around. Hanging from the ceiling fan in her nightmare. She kept her silence as to what was bothering her and still sobbing tried going back to sleep.

Its body shifted and moved in joy above the ceiling fan, as it thought to itself. Only the fodder can perceive the consumer...... It's been another year and this time, its grown skinny small arms and the child like short legs. It couldn't keep it comfortably over the glade so it rested out its feet to let it dangle from the dangling fan.

The girl, when entering her room, tried to scan and go around the ceiling fan. She was horrified by those long legs in her nightmares and she felt really insecure whenever she saw the ceiling fan after that. Viewing this time, she got startled. There were child like, pitch black colored, legs dangling from her ceiling fan and those legs seemed to sway back and forth in joy! On her asking her parents to view this, was only met with a soothing for something that doesn't exist. Though, those child-like legs exist!!

Its now, the third year and its a fully grown aberration. Its essence is emanating for almost half of the room's. Just a bit more it thought, for it to be free from this cage. Its dangling legs grown quite longer and the nightmares to visit were much more vivid to the fodders. It tried to reach out with its hand-like shapes at the sleeping girl. It was but to signify a note of thanks for giving it enough fodder.

The horns on a spherical shape is what she viewed in her nightmare which jolted her right back up. This, now, only aggravated when she felt the presence of something like a hand reaching out and tapping her shoulder. The screams from within the house were loud and never been heard of before!!!

 During this year, its been having a great time. Been trying to thank this small girl for letting herself being a mind fodder for it of her own accord. Her choices she probably would not remember but it was one within her dreams.. if she used to have one that is before "it" came along.

The poor little girl's thinking energy felt sapped every night and she kept trying to Hall-wu-see-Nate (is what others called it) about this creature that doesn't exist. She tried her best to stay away from being below the fan when going about her day everyday but once in a while, she always kept shuddering due to the hands' presence on her shoulders.

Again, it wanted to thank the girl before leaving from this cage tomorrow. Yes, it could leave now, as its essence was more than half of the room's. Its long legs now so long that it almost was above the girl's bed even when dangling from the ceiling fan. It tried to greet with a wave inside the girl's nightmares.

The girl woke up. She didn't know she had woken up though, as she could still perceive the long legged presence sitting atop the ceiling fan. She was shocked and gradually became silent. She kept her shock inside of her. Not wanting to talk about it ever again. Shuddering yet frozen in time, she went back to sleep with open eyes. Maybe she doesn't discern nightmare from reality anymore. This aberrated apparition had broken her to no repair....?

Next day, it had broken free from the cage. It traced its place back to the darkness and vanished away to its family. It would be fun to talk about this experience with them. Though it never got to thank the girl for her mind fodder. Well, it can always try to visit her another time maybe... it thought this while it subconsciously sat like it did atop the ceiling fan while swaying its legs and having the sinister smile....

© Aditya Subramanian, 2020